Muecke sharp in likely last game with Hooks

Hooks pitcher Josh Muecke yielded back to back singles in the top of the third but no mission was able to score and through 6 innings he had allowed only 4 hits and no runs.

CORPUS CHRISTI - The metamorphosis of Josh Muecke ranked near the top of the individual stories from the 2007 Hooks season.

In what likely was his last appearance in a Corpus Christi uniform, Muecke punctuated his strong second half with yet another stellar performance.

The left-hander tossed six solid innings as the Hooks downed the San Antonio Missions 5-2 on Sunday night at Whataburger Field.

Muecke pitched into the seventh inning, giving up two runs and scattering seven hits while walking one and striking out four.

"It was great," Muecke said. "I wanted to end the season strong and end with a win. I want our team to end solid and hopefully we can do that and just take momentum into (the Arizona Fall League) and keep rolling."

In the next-to-last game of the season, Muecke showed yet again the strides he made from last year, when he went 0-7 with a 7.40 earned-run average. That nightmarish campaign started when he was struck on his pitching arm by a line drive on opening day and was sidelined by six weeks.

He finished this season with a 9-5 record, leading the team in victories, and 3.90 ERA.

"It's just confidence," Muecke said. "I was able to reel off a couple of good outings and get my confidence up and my teammates and coaches had confidence in me. That's such a big thing and that got me rolling and kept me rolling."

During his final 10 outings, Muecke went 6-0 with a 3.09 ERA and was one of the main reasons the Hooks were in a playoff hunt entering the season's final two weeks.

"That's a great story," Hooks manager Dave Clark said. "He just struggled with adversity last year and to look at where he is right now. This kid is definitely on the radar now. He's a left-hander who can get outs. He throws strikes and pitches to contact and has a real good idea of what it takes on the mound. If there's one guy that I'm most proud of, it's definitely Josh Muecke."

That's a stark contrast to last fall, when Muecke was the mop-up man entering the playoff and hardly used as the Hooks won the Texas League championship.

"He knew his role then, but he was always that team player," Clark said. "He knew he wasn't having that year he wanted to have, but he was always there for the other guys and rooting them on. That just shows his professionalism."

Muecke's teammates gave him plenty of early support.

Tommy Manzella's RBI single and Neil Sellers' two-run double during the first inning made it 3-0 Hooks. Drew Sutton and Todd Self then padded the lead with solo homers in the second and eighth, respectively.